New absentee ballot system for Md.

By
Washington Post editors

Maryland voters have a new way of receiving absentee ballots online.

Voters who put in a request with their local elections boards could get an email as soon as Monday that tells them how to access their ballots on the Internet. Previously, the ballots were individually typed up and sent to voters.

The state board is running the new initiative with the University of Maryland's Center for American Politics and Citizenship.

Nikki Trella, election reform director at the board, says at least 3,000 Maryland voters had requested to receive ballots using the new system as of two weeks ago.

Trella says the new method improves the efficiency of distributing absentee ballots electronically.